newnative

I certainly wish it had been a joke but, remember, we're talking about Trump--the biggest egomaniac on earth. Let's also remember Trump, himself, said, "I don't kid'. And, no, that wasn't a joke, either--his poor White House staff had to scramble to try to do damage control.

Yes, that excuse again. Always trotted out. 'It was a joke.' Trump was deadly serious and meant every word. Sadly, he is also probably right--he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and still keep some of his supporters. If being a rapist hasn't turned them away probably shooting someone wouldn't, either. Sad state of affairs for America.

Totally missed the point of the post, which was to distinguish between a fact and an opinion.

According to Judge Kaplan, Trump is guilty of rape, by the legal definition of rape. Headline from Washington Post: Judge clarifies: Yes, Trump was found to have raped E. Jean Carroll

You've gotta be kidding. Had Trump made that tame, off-the-cuff remark it would have totally disappeared without a trace, utterly overwhelmed by all the other far more provocative, mostly untrue, remarks he makes every single day, every time he opens his mouth. We could start off with his Big Lie that the 2020 election was 'stolen' from him. Imagine any other politician getting a pass for that huge lie. Then, maybe go on to his statement that he will only be a dictator for one day--how do you think that would be received by any other politician? And, umm, are you sure it will only be for one day, Donnie? Would any other politician get a pass with all the Nazi Germany rhetoric Trump has been using lately? Or, the free ride he is getting as a convicted rapist? (Never mind that no other convicted rapist would ever entertain the idea for even a second that they could be presidential material--big problem right there.) The truth is, there are so many Trump outrageous lies, gross distortions, inaccurate boasts, half-baked half-truths, wild, nutty claims, slurs, and insults in all shapes and forms, that the Press, and too many of the public, have, 1, gone numb from the sheer numbers, and, 2, been overwhelmed in trying to cover, and keep track of them all. Remember when we were all shocked to our toes when Trump said he was so popular that he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and not lose any voters? Now, after all that has spewed out of his mouth since then, in a free-for-all foul flow, it seems rather tame in comparison. Or, maybe I'm going numb, too.

Yet another example of the poor quality of teachers.

Measly 12,000 baht. Fines are a total joke.

I think saying '80million that support him' is stretching it quite a bit. In American presidential elections, large numbers of registered voters support their party and vote the straight ticket, no matter who is the candidate for president. In the 2020 election, it was around 42% for Democrats and 38% for Republicans. Goes both ways, Democrat and Republican. So, whether they actually support the party's presidential candidate, they will, in many cases, hold their nose and vote the straight party ticket, supporting the party. With this in mind, a political party could, if it was totally bonkers, theoretically, nominate, say, a convicted rapist, or, a convicted swindler and serial liar, or, a candidate with, say 90 or so very serious criminal indictments hanging over his head and, while not supporting him, a certain percentage would vote the straight ticket. Hey, wait a minute . . .

Let me get out my hanky and cry my crocodile tears for poor, super-rich Tesla. Boo hoo. Competition is good. Tesla models only came down in price because of competition. They were grossly over-priced--as shown by how easily the price was reduced once there was some competition. Buyers were being gouged. And, still being gouged, in my opinion. If you want a red car, it's an extra 85,000 baht. All colors cost extra, except black. So, if you don't want to pay extra on an already expensive car, channeling Henry Ford, you can have any color you want as long as it's black. Welcome to the early 20th century. If Tesla had better, fresher, more diverse product, it might be doing better. It makes 3 look-alike 4-door sedan models and an ugly truck. Only a couple of the look-alike models are currently available in Thailand. Most of the models sold have been on sale for some years now, virtually unchanged. Spend some money, Elon and keep your product fresh. Spend some money and produce more distinct models--and make them all available. Spend some money and open more dealerships. You're getting beaten by new and better competition, and this is just the beginning. You had the market to yourself and you coasted, raking in the profit but moving forward way too slowly. Take a look at MG, for just one example. They make a 4-door sedan. They make a large passenger van. They make a truck. And, they make at least 4 distinct SUV/wagon types of vehicles, some hybrid and some all-electric models. They're making the investment in new models and also opening up dealerships. Same with BYD--planning to open 100 new dealerships in Thailand in 2024. Both have dealerships in Pattaya. How many are you opening, Elon? If you are being 'demolished', it's your own fault.

Yaa! Cough it up, Donald, you convicted rapist. (I concur with the judge's interpretation of his sexual assault.)

You might be able to tell the difference between 'wheat facts and chaff facts' but you are apparently challenged in telling the difference between fact and opinion. Falling in the fact category would be 'Unemployment in the Biden presidency has averaged at ___%, while unemployent in the Trump presidency adveraged at ____%. Falling in the opinion category would be your 'Biden is a good president worthy of re election.' One could, of course, cite the unemployment fact as one reason to support the opinion that Biden is worthy of reelection.

Okey dokey.

Totally agree. No way is Pattaya a suburb of Bangkok. Greater Pattaya has become its own metro area, with it's own satellites.

Yes, it also works well with U turns against busy traffic. We'll have to agree to disagree regarding north/south and east/west at busy intersections without traffic lights--I find it works. Also useful if a traffic signal is not working at a busy intersection.

No, I didn't--and thank you for taking it upon yourself to independently decide where I lived. Before moving to Thailand, I actually lived for 35 years in Fairfax County, Virginia, one of the 10 richest counties in the nation. At one point it was #1. Fun fact: Fairfax County was the first county in the nation to have a median household income in 6 figures. Certainly, Fairfax County was safer than many other places in America but I still feel safer here, comparing both and having lived here for 13 years.

Then, there's also she's sane and he's a raging lunatic.

Yes, makes it so much harder to fall back on the ridiculously lame 'claim' excuse when confronted with actual facts. ('Well, that's just a claim'. Umm, no it's not, Grasshopper.) The facts are often so easy to locate with Google. Google 'Trump convicted of sexual assault' and there are all the facts right there, in only the time it took to type the query. I sense a lot of grinding teeth. Grrrrrrr! Cursed Google with cursed facts.

Again, not 'claims' at all. They are facts. Facts that are general knowledge. Facts that are general knowledge don't need to be backed up with a link. If I mention in a post that the earth is round, first, it is not a 'claim' and, second, it is general knowledge that does not need a link. Same with these facts. For the record, I did not post the facts regarding Trump. That was another poster. However, when you referred to the facts as 'claims' I felt I needed to respond to set you straight that they are not 'claims' at all, but facts. A big difference. I 'claim' I have a 30-inch waist but . . . Again, for the record, the poster who listed Trump's convictions was being scrupulously fair to Trump when he listed his conviction for sexual assault. The judge in the case said Trump was actually guilty of what is generally considered to be the legal definition of rape, even though the jury opted for 'sexual assault'. You can google it.

I have to disagree. This driving technique at intersections is called 'Be a Train' and it works well in managing traffic where there are no signal lights. Basically, you be a train of cars, following closely together so no gap is left. This allows a number of cars going north ans south to travel through the intersection without the stopping and starting that slows everything down. They go through the intersection like a train. Eventually there will be a gap, and then it's the turn of the traffic going east and west to be a train going through the intersection. It's the best way to manage taking turns with 4 Way Stop not being used. Sometimes, as you say, the traffic does get stopped in the middle of an intersection but it then flows and gets sorted. 'Be a Train' also works well with turns at intersections without signal lights. At our new house on the Darkside, we have to make a right turn against sometimes busy oncoming traffic on Road 3240. When three or four cars have built up waiting to make the right turn, Be a Train allows them all to make the turn because there is no gap left for the waiting traffic to resume. A car not being a train--leaving a big gap that allows the ongoing traffic to move again, fouls up the line of cars waiting to turn. So, be a train when you can--you'll see it helps traffic flow.

All show, nothing more. They need to eliminate all the parking on North Pattaya and enforce the no parking all the time with traffic wardens and stiff fines. The problem is way too long waits at traffic signals because there is simply way too much traffic now for just 2 lanes. Three lanes lets many more cars get thru a signal so the signal cycles can be shorter, helping to eleviate long backups. The markings now are just ludicrous. For example, by Bangkok Bank near Terminal 21, it's all red and white no parking except for a small stretch of yellow and white temporary parking in front of the bank. Yesterday, wasn't there one truck parked in the yellow, making all the cars using the lane have to try to merge into the lane to the right, greatly slowing everything down. So, allowing one car to park fouls everything up for many other cars. Ludicrous. It's the same all down the road on both sides heading east and west--allowing a few parking spaces here and there fouls up the whole flow. True also for most of the other major roads. None of this is brain science or rocket surgery.

Good.

I feel much safer in Thailand than I did in the US.

What's funny? As an American, it's sad that this is the state of American politics these days. Politics being the 'art of compromise' was not doing well before Trump came on the scene and, thanks to Trump, it's now on life support.

They're not 'claims', they're facts. Easily googled. Just google 'Trump convicted for charity fraud', for example, and up it pops. Just google 'Trump convicted for sexual assault', and up it pops. See how easy that is?

If I'm Biden I'd want Trump, too, as my opponent. Two-time loser with the voters in both his presidential runs, and, now, much more negative baggage, with all the criminal indictments and everything else, than he had in the 2020 election.